THE MODERNISTS

The intelligentsia refer to the Filipino artists

who were sent to America for further studies,

and were exposed to the impressionist and

post-impressionist art masters like Paul

Gauguin and Henri Matisse, as well as Vincent

Van Gogh and the father of modern art, Paul

Cezanne.

The Filipino painters came home with a strong

desire to introduce modernism in the

Philippine art scene at the time the Traditional

artists were heavily engaged in landscape and

genre painting.

Headed by Victorio Edades, the Thirteen Moderns emerged:

• Carlos “Botong” Francisco

• Galo Ocampo

• Hernando Ocampo

• Cesar Legaspi

• Diosdado Lorenzo

• Vicente Manansala

• Anita Magsaysay

• Demetrio Diego

• Picarte Purugunan

• Bonifacio Cristobal

• Arsenio Capili

The Art Association of the

Philippines (AAP) was

founded in 1948 through the

initiative of Purita Kalaw

Ledesma. It was through the

AAP’s annual exhibitions that

the modern painters were

showcased.

Victorio Edades

Victorio C. Edades (December 23, 1895 – March 7,

1985) is considered the father of modern art in the

Philippines. His main contribution was the shift

from art as a representation of reality through

realism to expression of the mind, emotion, and

reality as perceived by the artist. In his The

Builders, Edades depicted several men in different

positions carrying stone blocks.

Although Edades used perspective, the painting

looks crowded with men carrying stone. In fact,

even if the title is The Builders, focus is on the

contortion of the bodies and no hint is shown as to

what structure is being built.

Victorio Edades, The Builders. 1928, oil on wood, 121x322 cm. Cultural Center of

the Philippines Collection

Carlos “Botong” Francisco

Carlos Modesto Villaluz Francisco (November 4,

1912 – March 31, 1969), popularly known as

“Botong”, was a muralist from Angono, Rizal.

He received the title National Artist in 1973. His

famous four-panel mural paintings at the

Philippine General Hospital, The Progress of

Medicine in the Philippines, were commissioned

in 1953 by four physicians: Dr. Agerico Sison,

Dr. Eduardo Quisumbing, Dr. Florentino Herrera,

Jr., and Dr. Constantino Manahan. After hanging

of the walls of the hospital for 58 years, the

National Museum restored the four murals

exhibit these in September 2011.

Francisco’s murals showed scenes from the

history of the Philippines, such as Blood

Compact, First Mass at Limasawa, The

Martyrdom of Rizal, Bayanihan, Magpupukot,

Fiesta, Bayanihan sa Bukid, Sandugo, Portrait

of Purita, The Invasion of Limahong, Serenade,

and Muslim Betrothal. His style was flowing

narrative, and his colors are rendered softly with

smooth brush strokes. He always shows the

Filipinos as dignified, valiant, and proud people

who have a colorful and meaningful history

despite the many years of foreign colonization.

Carlos

‘Botong’

Francisco,

The

Progress of

Medicine in

the

Philippines,

1953, mural.

Philippine

General

Hospital

Collection.

Galo B. Ocampo

Galo B. Ocampo (October 16, 1913 –

September 12, 1985) had his first exhibition

in 1973 at age 59, entitled Anthropographic

Designs, in which he featured the Tabon man

of the caves of Palawan. It was inspired by

his field work with Robert Fox. Fascinated

by the ancient stalagmites within the

mysterious caves, he said, “I haveendeavoured to create acontemporary world out ofthe past, for the past hasalways given us strength for

His Brown Madonna shows a woman with a child,

which was always depicted in the West as Mary

and the child Jesus. In his version of the same

subject, his woman has brown complexion with

facial features of a Filipina. The Madonna’s baro

(blouse) and saya (skirt) with tapis (wrap

around) reflects a rural settings and indigenized

religious image.

Other famous paintings by Ocampo are:

• Flagellants (1953);

• Pounding Rice (1951); and

• War and Peace (1955).

Galo B.

Ocampo, 1938.

Brown

Madonna, oil

on canvas.

62x47 cm.

(UST Museum

of Arts and

Sciences

Collection)

REMEMBERThe Filipino artists who studied art in America were

influenced by art masters like Paul Gauguin and

Henri Matisse, as well as Vincent Van Gogh and the

father of modern art, Paul Cezanne.

Victorio Edades is considered the father of modern

art in the Philippines.

Carlos ‘Botong’ Francisco’s famous four-panel mural

paintings at the Philippine General Hospital, The

Progress of Medicines in the Philippines was

restored by the National Museum.

Galo Ocampo’s Brown Madonna is an indigenized

religious image.

All for You my Jesus, All for You!

TO GOD BE THE GLORY